Antiquing, New Friends, and Great Finds!

By Kate Riley • April 25, 2010

Well, top of the mornin’ to ya folks, hope your weekend was fabulous ! Mine was exceptionally great, especially since I had the opportunity to go to the Antique Faire here in town, the one I mentioned here that was written up in Country Living a few short months ago.

The weather was perfect and so was the company – check out these lovely ladies who drove from all over the Bay Area to pay a visit to our Antique Faire !

The group split up to hunt for treasures but met up later for a fantastic lunch. Here’s a glimpse at some of the cool antiques I spotted.

This gorgeous bow front chest with bonnet top hutch. It was a soft gray, I loved it !

These throne chairs had the coolest weathered wood detail. They needed reupholstering but they were tempting ! Hope they went to a good home.

I spy a lot of end tables like this in thrift stores – these look especially cheerful redone in a mustard yellow. How wonderful in a gray and white master suite would these be ? Just that perfect pop of yellow.

These vintage tin canisters are fantastic. They’d be swell behind glass cabinet doors in a kitchen or up on open shelves. Great bookends for cookbooks too !

I love this idea – a helm revamped into a wine rack ! So great on a kitchen or dinette counter !

More end tables, the perfect shade of blue gray. This dealer had an amazing collection of coral too. I need to learn more about selective harvesting and sustainability before buying though.

They were really beautiful to look at and they make stunning decor.

A gorgeous secretary – loved this detail.

One of my favorite vendors sells furniture, mirrors and coat racks made from reclaimed wood.

Do you love these vintage knobs on a coat rack ?

He makes these original mirrors too – you can see how one could customize a similar version with some framing, a split leg glued to the framing, some finials, a mirror and some decorative trim.

How sweet is this garden cart ? Such a great outdoor end table !

I loved this pretty display of vintage silver bud vases in this painted box.

Here’s a clever idea to bend old forks or spoons into napkin rings:

I love how old gin, rye, and whiskey bottles glisten in the sunlight.

Lots of pretty blue Ball jars to choose from:

A large burlap bulletin board, classically good looking.

Another beautifully painted bureau for $135 ! Such a great price for this piece.

I hunted high and low for some botanicals for my living room with one dealer, but then decided to skip them and perhaps attempt some pressed flower art instead.

I’m soooo in the market for a potting bench, but I’m planning to build one myself someday soon. This one is so perfect !

And this was my favorite part – the drawer handle fashioned from a spade !

Then I found this vendor Randy Foster who makes shelves and hanging art out of reclaimed turn of the century ceiling tins. He came all the way from Ashland, Oregon. You can see his Flickr page featuring all of his work right here.

We took a break and met up with the gals for lunch. Delicious pumpkin ravioli in butter sage walnut sauce, yum !

After five hours of antiquing and lunching, I grabbed my goodies and we headed home. What did I find ? So glad you asked !! :-)

From the ceiling tin guy, I bought some vintage tins of my own for a super cool art project I have planned.

Aren’t these completely fabulous ?

I also found this beautiful terrarium – the dealer gave me a small discount so I picked it up for $40 dollars. For now, it sits in our foyer – I love the patina, the shape, everything about it !

Finally, I found this stunning Alfred Meakin Ironstone pitcher from England, such a beautiful shape and a great size too. I filled it with some flowers just blooming in the yard – floribunda roses and gorgeous viburnum.

What a day – my feet ache !!! I never should have worn my wedges, will I ever learn ? Antiquing must be done in comfortable footwear, duh !

Many thanks to the ladies who joined me on this fun excursion, I simply cannot wait till next year !

47 comments

Fabulous antiques!!! I can’t even decide what my favorite is….I’m pretty partial to blue Ball jars…and the garden cart…genious! Adding that to my “see if I can figure out how to make that” list! :-) Thanks for the beautiful inspiration!

Oh my stars, I loved this post – it was like getting to go out with you! And oh, there are so many things that I loved… the teal garden cart, the ironstone, the ceiling tins, the old knobs on the coat racks. Ah, lovely trip first thing on a Monday morning, thank you!

What a fun time…….so wish I could have been there….. who knows… maybe some day! The terrarium looks gorgeous in it’s new home …. and love the white ironstone pitcher! I would have had a hard time with all those goodies to choose from…. thanks for sharing!

Keep your eyes open for old calenders… many have lovely botanicals….. but I like your idea of pressing your own flowers even more! Have a great week, and soak those tootsies in that fabulous spa bath…. remember chocolates help!

I have been in the market for side tables for our bedroom and I LOVE those end tables you found. So jealous that I don’t live in California, I haven’t been able to find anything in St. Louis… *sniffle*

Hi Kate! It was great meeting you yesterday! Sorry we got lost from the pack. Too much good stuff to look at. And by the way, my friend’s name is Jillian. Mind if I borrow the group picture to use on my blog later this week?

That looked like so much fun! I sure wish I could have been there! I love all the pictures you shared. That white pitcher does resemble mine, but yours is much prettier! I got mine at goodwill for 5 bucks. It was an ugly tan color and I spray painted it white. :)
Have a great day, girl!

I can’t believe I missed this! I moved to Marin a year and half ago, but we attend a church in Petaluma – and I have been waiting for a great antique fair in the area! I started following your blog about a month ago, and completely missed that this was happening in Petaluma…will you be doing the same thing for the next one?

Looks like you had a perfect day! :) I love the ceiling tiles you found…can’t wait to see what you dream up with them. J’adore those mustard colored end tables. I’ve been hunting for some for my Family room to replace the mid-1990s-ish looking ones I have. Those are great! Have a wonderful week, my friend! :)

I grew up on a lake and almost every home had some sort of nautical decor. I think it was a city ordinance or something :) So when I grew up and moved away I made a little vow not to go there with my own home decor – to be different. However, seeing that ships wheel wine rack might just make me change that long standing no nautical vow…

Petaluma was beautiful on Sunday for the faire. Sorry I missed shopping with you ladies, I decided to stay home and organize the stuff I already have. Assembled two giant craft supply cabinets, laid my new FLOR carpeting and set up my table for soldering in my garage. So it was a good day after all and the willpower not to go antiquing paid off. But I would have loved to have spent it with you & co. Another time soon Kate!

Loved the spade handle, the blue ball jars, the white pitcher . . . I also appreciate you mentioning properly harvested shells and coral. This is a huge issue. People think that the shells seen in stores are just picked up on beaches around the world, when in fact many are taken from the sea with their inhabitants still living inside. Resin replicas are still beautiful but are animal friendly.

Wow! You scored some amazing finds. I love everything YOU brought home. :) I would have picked them up too! I also enjoyed seeing the amazing treasures you came across. I love coral but I agree with you, sustainability first. I have some of the faux-coral from pottery barn in my house now.

i have been following your website for several months now but only commenting here i think for the first time. i so enjoy and look forward to every post and thanks for introducing me to forloveorfunny, too.

just wondering…when you use the paint tray, do you not loosely wrap it with a larger plastic bag and knot it one end so you can just throw it away after use?

Hello, I'm Kate! I'm a renovator, decorator, and do-it-yourselfer who writes daily about great interior design and smart home improvement. Welcome to the place where I share my advice and adventures in decorating and DIY projects! Learn more.